


Let Me In, Talk It Out

by thehufflepuffreference



Series: Write Me Like A Love Song [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Blacksmith Keith, Gen, Heart to Hearts, Team Voltron YouTubers, Trans Male Character, Youtube AU, broganes, did I mention the klance was slow burn?, there's no klance in this, trans keith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-29
Updated: 2019-03-29
Packaged: 2019-12-26 08:17:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18279347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thehufflepuffreference/pseuds/thehufflepuffreference
Summary: Shiro and Keith have a heart-to-heart about Shiro telling the others about Keith's YouTube channel. We find out what kind of channels they both run, and Shiro opens up a bit about his past to Pidge and Allura.





	Let Me In, Talk It Out

It’s about a week after the fateful house meeting where Shiro revealed their YouTube channels, and now no one else in the house will get off Keith’s back about what he does for his videos. So that brings him here, in the shop, working on the plans for the longsword he plans to turn in for his final, the new Hozier album playing probably too loudly through his headphones (Shiro’s always lecturing him on hearing damage). This is why he doesn’t notice his brother creeping up behind him until Shiro pulls his headphones off his ears. Keith yelps, and stands up swinging, but Shiro is used to this reaction, and dodges the blow. Chest heaving from the adrenaline spike, Keith settles after realizing his assailant is only his annoying older brother. 

“What do you want? I’m working on an assignment.” Keith grumbles, taking his headphones back and placing them on the work table beside him. Shiro raises an eyebrow and crosses his arms, leaning against the table to look down into Keith’s face. 

“What I want is for you to stop being grumpy, and to talk to me. You’ve been practically ignoring me for a week. What’s up, baby bro?” Shiro asks, his face open, but his mouth set in a stern line. 

“I’m grumpy because maybe I didn’t want people to know about my channel. That’s sort of private, and I don’t want them to make fun of me. I know I’m a lot different in person than I am online. But now Lance won’t stop bugging me, and Allura keeps insinuating I don’t trust them and that’s why I won’t tell anyone. I don’t trust them, Shiro! We’ve been living together for less than two weeks! They don’t know anything about me, and I don’t know anything about them.” Keith aggressively picks at loose pieces of wood grain, and Shiro sighs. 

“I’m sorry for telling them you had a channel without asking first. I know you’re private. I assumed that you’d be okay with it because we’re living with them, and I’m sorry. You don’t have to tell them if you don’t want to. But smithing is really cool, Keith. And your channel is really well-made. I don’t think anyone will have anything bad to say about it.” Keith nods along to Shiro’s words. 

“It’s alright, Takashi. I know you’d never do something to upset me on purpose. I’ll think about telling them, okay?” He looks up and smiles at his older brother, and Shiro smiles back. “Now, look at this, and tell me if it looks like an authentic Scottish claymore. The assignment was just to make a longsword, but I think the claymores look cool. I’ll get you in later when I’m actually working the crossguard, but I’d like to hear your thoughts now.” They bend over Keith’s designs while _Talk_ can still be heard playing from Keith’s headphones on the table. 

~*~*~*~

Later, Keith and Shiro sit on the floor of Shiro’s room, huddled in a sloppy blanket fort that Hunk and Pidge (had they been at this point yet) would be ashamed of and force them to rebuild. They’re readying to watch Wonder Woman, because Allura and Pidge found out they hadn’t seen it yet and gave them a ten minute lecture -- and also because it was sort of a shock Shiro hadn’t watched it. Since movie commentary was sort of his thing. 

“Alright, I have the movie pulled up.” Keith said, finishing getting the laptop in a good place where they could see but also sprawl out in the fort. “Snacks?”

“Check.” Shiro responds, “Binder off?” 

“Check.” Keith rolls his eyes, as if he thought he could get away with lazing about in his binder in front of his brother who knew he’d been wearing it all day, “Drinks?”

“Check.” Shiro’s turn to roll his eyes, “Why am I letting you drink again? I’m your house president and I know you’re underage.”

“You are also my brother, and you know I turn 21 in like a month and a half. Also I’ve been drinking with you since I was 18.” Keith reminds him, Shiro sighs the sigh of the weary, and they start the movie. 

Two and a half hours later, Keith is all but asleep, wrapped in three different blankets, head foggy with the exhaustion of the day and also the three beers he’d consumed. Shiro finishes up the notes he’d taken through the movie and smiles down at his brother. He gets up to clean up the snacks, alcohol, and general blanket fort debris, and has to stifle a shriek as he opens the door to the waiting eager faces of Pidge and Allura, who had apparently been waiting to hear his reaction to the film. 

“Sweet quiznak, you guys almost gave me a heart attack! Warn a guy! What do you want?” He stepped around the girls, who looked to have started a sleepover of their own in the hallway. 

“How did you like the movie?” Allura asked, pushing off the wall to stand up and follow Shiro. She tripped over the blanket which had been spread over her legs, but recovered gracefully.

“It was great. I cried, Keith cried, we both loved it.” 

“Keith cried?” Pidge asked scooting down the hall after them still wrapped in her own blanket. “That seems out of character.”

“Nah, he’s a softy, he just takes some time to open up to people, and he’s only really know you all for a couple weeks. The movie was really good, guys. I’m glad you convinced me to watch it. I don’t know what took me so long, but at least it’s been out long enough that no one else is still doing reviews of it. That’ll mean I’ll get more views.” 

“You do movie reviews?” Pidge exclaimed, stopping in her scooting. “How come I’ve never seen you?” They’d reached the kitchen and Shiro began putting away the items he was carrying.

“Well, I don’t…” He trailed off and turned to face the girls with a sheepish smile. “I don’t show my face. It’s mostly me talking over footage of the movies. I started my channel to find a healthy outlet after my accident. Back then it was mostly watching films and TV shows with Keith who really enjoyed my commentary, and got me started. But...I didn’t want people to see me. It’s been five years now, so I’m way more comfortable with my scars, and my arm, but back then I was scared of how people would react. I didn’t want pity and I knew how people reacted to prosthetics, I knew how _I_ reacted to prosthetics. But on my channel I got to be myself without anyone knowing what I looked like or what had happened to me. So yeah.” Allura nodded along, and Pidge listened with a considering tilt of her head, looking up at him from the floor. 

“Well I’m sure your channel is great, and we’d love to hear some of your movie reviews whether or not you show your face. But, it may be worth considering, as a way of moving forward, to show yourself to your viewers, because even if there is hate, I’m sure there will be way more support. Or even just doing a collab with one of us without revealing who you are, you can just guest star on one of our channels, and we can do a review with you and not show our face, see if your viewers can figure out who’s with you.” Allura suggested, resting a friendly hand on Shiro’s shoulder. 

“That’s not a bad idea, Allura. I don’t think I’m ready to show myself on my channel yet, but we can look into doing the other things.” Shiro smiled at his two friends. 

“But for now, I’m going to bed. Allura, would you do me the honor of carrying me up the stairs to my hovel?” Pidge asked, rolling closer to the other girl’s feet. Allura threw back her head laughing, but bent down to pick up Pidge and throw her over her shoulder. 

“Lance may be right that you are a gremlin, Pidge. Goodnight, Shiro.” Allura called the last bit over her shoulder as she hauled Pidge up the stairs to the floor their bedrooms was on. 

Shiro smiled to himself, then made his way back to his room, and tucked Keith into the remnants of the blanket fort. He had a really good feeling about this year.

**Author's Note:**

> What? Part 2? The next day? Unheard of from me. Don't get used to it (please) 
> 
> I have a lot of this AU planned out, but there are a bunch of pieces missing, so if you have anything you'd like to see from me, let me know and I'll at least consider it.  
> So yeah, Keith is a blacksmith, and Shiro does movie and TV show reviews. I'm not kidding when I say that Keith is inspired by a real YouTuber/blacksmith Alec Steele. My dad watches him and my sister said it would be funny if Keith did that in a YouTube AU. I feel like Lance would think it was really hot. 
> 
> ALSO I guess I've loosely set this series at the end of 2019 (which obviously hasn't happened when I'm posting this), and Hozier's album wouldn't be considered "new" by September when this fic happens, but yeah. I'm aware, I'm doing this cause I want to and it's fun not because I want to be caught up in pop culture accuracies and intricacies.
> 
> Anyway, disclaimer that I am nonbinary, not a trans man so if I say anything wrong or stupid please correct me and I will fix it. Also disclaimer that I am not an amputee and haven't lived through a traumatic accident so the same applies to that. 
> 
> I love hearing what other people want to read about, and I'm open to *constructive* criticism.  
> Keep Rocking On,  
> THR


End file.
